Old Nan

[Captain of the Van]

Since Bran can see through heart trees, Old Nan doesn't necessarily have to be alive to learn about her. Especially if she was up in the north, a lot of her life could be available to Bran.

[Babeldygob]

Not sure who (what?) she is, but she tells Bran that the comet means "dragons." That would seem to indicate some kind of special knowledge. I hope she survives the Dreadfort...

I'm almost certain she will die in Winterfell, because:

-She is not important for anyone right now, except for maybe Bran she has been of some importance.

=> GRRM will not kill off a loved but totally unimportant character, just because he can, he will probably give her a good death, if she even dies at all... Certainly not offscreen.

Unless he makes her important, I think she will have a good ending, be it death or life.

[Pomp & Happenstance]

I personally believe that Bran saw Old Nan in one of his prophetic dreams after drinking the Weirtree Sap.

The vision was something along the lines of "And then he saw a marrage between a tall knight and a young woman", he may even say that there's something familiar about her/them. I can't recall at the moment. (maybe her & dunc?)

All I can remember at the moment of her past is that she is believed to have first came to Winterfell as a nursemaid for either Eddard Stark or his father.

She has shown far too much knowledge for her not to know what's going on, and I think she know's the starks are heavily involved too. I can only hope that she turns out okay.

[Frey Pie]

Id say shes an old friend of Walder Freys. Theyre both very old. Hodors real name is Walder and everyone knows how many of his offspring are wald-something or other. Nice bitta irony if at the end of the books the only Frey alive is Hodor whos been with the Starks all this time

[Raksha the Demon]

I just hope that Nan is alive and relatively well, perhaps working in the kitchens of the Dreadfort with little Beth Cassel and other Winterfell survivors. It's horrible to think that she just might have died on the march from Winterfell to the Dreadfort, or in the burning of Winterfell. I won't be such a fan of GRRM if he kills off every innocent/interesting character or leaves their fate a loose end...

[tinyskeeveuk]

What's her first name? Does anybody know? I know Arya takes the name Nymeria at the dreadfort and becomes known as 'Nan'.... do you think it could be Nymeria?

[TheWizard]

Old Nan is dead. She was a old woman who got taken to the dreadfort which at the time was being run by Ramsey Bolton. As much as people love her i have no doubt in my mind she had a terrible death.

[TSORG]

i think she is a wildling since in the beginning she called the Others, White Walkers, and didnt correct it untill Bran asked her if she meant the Others. AFAIK only wildlings call them white walkers. also she said she knew a story about a crow, in a way that made me think it was a watchman rather than a bird. (since most of her stories concern people anyway)

[Morienthar]

She's the north's counter part to the Ghost of High Heart....

[Maester Crypt]

Believe she was brought to Winterfell to be the wetnurse to Neds grandfathers, (either older or younger brother Brandon) who died at age 3 of a summer chill.

This would place her in Winterfell probably around the time of Egg(Aegon V) being named King, with Aemon choosing to take the Black instead of the crown.

As part of his becoming king, Aegon sent a large number of people to accompany Aemon to the Wall, including Bloodraven. Duncan the Tall was there on the journey also, thus it seems likely they would have passed through Winterfell on the way. Allowing Dunk and Nan to kiss under the Weirwoood tree in Brans vision.

[adant]

Hop on board this crazy train, but what if Old Nan is Shiera Seastar? She's certainly old enough and we don't really get a confirmation of her end. It would be the kind of irony that the beauty she was renowned for in her youth reduced her to Old Nan. Who is described as mostly blind: probably some cataracts to hide her distinctive two toned eyes, and mostly bald: she lost all of the long silver Targaryan hair. Her affair with the Bloodraven could have lead her to follow him North towards the Wall in secret where once he took his vows and the black he finally rebuffed her she made her way back in the direction of civilization and either got sidetracked with a wildling lover for a while or had a real hard time of it in the woods with a giant. Either way she ends up at Winterfell looking a lot worse for the wear and needing a place to stay now that her lover has made vows to the realm where she settles down probably pregnant (since she came as a wet nurse) with a future Hodor great-grandfather grandfather I forget how far apart they are generationally where every day she looks less and less like Sheira Seastar until she's eventually just Old Nan telling stories to any Brandon Stark that will listen. Hodor's real name being Walder could have been the result of one of Old Nan's kids having the poor sense to get with a Frey rather than she herself. We reminded that there's a lot of generations in between, lots of other blood to account for in Hodor rather than Old Nan.

It just seems like her storytelling to Bran and her connection to him could factor in with the BloodRaven with both of them acting as mentors and Bran like the son they never had? It's pretty out there, but I think the tradition of passing down knowledge especially where Bran is concerned is important and the characters that are all of that age (Maester Aemon, Ser Duncan, Egg, so far have been linked through Dunk & Egg, her age her survival and her association with Bran seems a little too loaded for her to just be some wildling who happened upon Winterfell and acted as a wet nurse.

[Lady Nastja]

She is at the Dreadfort.

Hmm, I'm not so sure. As much as I loved her and would want her to live, I don't think she has. In AFFC, she is among the captives being held at the Dreadfort following the fall of Winterfell, but in aDwD Theon remarks that she is likely dead, although it wasn't confirmed.

[Whitering]

I always assumed she was fed to Ramsay's dogs because he is a super ass hat and it seems like the type of thing he would do. There is no good reason for Ramsay to keep her alive, except if he tries to break her to say that Jeyne is Arya, but that old lady doesn't seem like the breaking kind.

[caravaggio]

I wonder if she appears in Mystery Knight.

[PirateDuchess]

I'm inclined to think she was a nanny/governess to the Stark children who has been with the family for a long time. Perhaps even watched out for Brendan, Ned, Lyanna, and Benjen.

[EnergeticCrab]

Love old nan and can't wait for her comeback.

The first time I read the series, I didn't pay close enough attention to her stories and upon rereading, her lines are especially poignant!